Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 407 Certificate of Surrender

The guests and hosts were seated, and the servants served fragrant tea.

Shen Wence took a sip of tea, then asked with a smile: "How come Mr. Li has time to visit this humble house?"

Li Wanneng's face was a little red, but he still said bravely: "Master Jia has great achievements, and I think it is appropriate to take charge of the country in place of the emperor."

Shen Wence smiled and then said: "It's very good that Mr. Li can realize this."

Li Wanneng was willing to take the risk now. He had already said the most difficult thing to say, and the rest was no longer important, so he continued: "In the past, I used the heart of a villain to judge the heart of a gentleman. Now that I think about it, I regret it. Today I want to If you want to abandon darkness and turn to light, I wonder if Mr. Shen can recommend me?"

Shen Wence was also overjoyed when he heard this.

Li Wanneng is not a simple figure. He is the leader of the Qingliu faction in the court. If he also joins the army, then Master Jia's affairs will be more than half stable.

"Okay, I am very happy that Mr. Li can realize this. I will tell Mr. Jia tomorrow." Shen Wence said very excitedly.

Li Wanneng also put aside his grudges now, stroking his beard and said: "There is still a force in the court that wants to go against Mr. Jia, especially the relatives of the emperor, who are ready to make a move."

"Oh, is this news true?" Shen Wence asked.

"Of course it's true. King Zhongshun and King Beijing contacted me a few days ago." Li Wanneng betrayed his allies without hesitation.

Shen Wence frowned after hearing this.

He didn't care about King Zhongshun, he was just a loser.

But King Beijing cannot be taken lightly.

Prince Beijing was a close confidant of the emperor and the only one among the four princes with different surnames who wielded a certain amount of power.

"What exactly did they discuss?" Shen Wence asked impatiently.

Li Wanneng stroked his beard and said, "I think he wanted to assassinate Mr. Jia, but I don't know the specifics of how to do it."

Shen Wence stood up and walked a few steps in the study, then turned his head sharply and said to Li Wanneng: "There is no need to wait for tomorrow. Come with me to Dingxihou Mansion immediately, and let's go to meet Mr. Jia together."

Li Wanneng was naturally happy, and he stood up and said, "Okay."

Then without any hesitation, the two people left the yard and got into sedan chairs respectively, and then hurried to Ningrong Street.

Ningrong Street is now defended at the same level as the Imperial Palace, with three thousand soldiers patrolling the area day and night.

Therefore, the two of them were stopped by soldiers as soon as their sedan approached Ningrong Street.

Fortunately, Shen Wence had face. He just showed his face, and the soldiers let them pass, so they arrived at the gate of Dingxihou Mansion unimpeded.

But once they got here, they couldn't leave anymore. Shen Wence went out to inform them, and then they were let in again. The two of them entered the Dingxihou Mansion through the side door.

When they arrived at the square of the Marquis Mansion, they got off their sedan chairs, and then Jia Rui's personal soldiers took the two of them to wait outside Jia Rui's study.

About half an hour later, Jia Rui hurriedly walked out, saw Shen Wence and Li Wanneng, nodded lightly, and then led them into the study.

In the study, Jia Rui sat down in the middle, with Shen Wence and Li Waneng standing below to accompany him.

"Two adults, do you have any important business coming to my house at this time?" Jia Rui asked softly.

Li Waneng glanced at Shen Wence, which meant that he wanted to speak first.

Shen Wence nodded lightly, then took a step forward, "Sir, Mr. Li has important confidential matters related to the fate of the imperial court, and I would like to report them to you."

Jia Rui put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Li Wanneng with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Li Wanneng was the emperor's absolute confidant and the emperor's literary representative among the courtiers. Is it possible for him to seek refuge with him? Jia Rui had some doubts in his heart.

Li Waneng looked at Jia Rui's face and knew it was time for him to claim his title, so he took a step forward and knelt on the ground.

"Master Jia, in the past, Mr. Li didn't know people well and didn't know his master. Today, I hope that my lord will be magnanimous and allow the subordinates to have the opportunity to serve their subordinates."

Jia Rui didn't say anything, but held the tea cup and thought for a while, then said, "Are you sincerely surrendering?"

"If a low-ranking official has second thoughts, he will die without a burial place." Li Wanneng said categorically.

Jia Rui nodded slowly, as if he believed him, "Master Shen, help Master Li up quickly."

Shen Wence stepped forward and helped Li Wanneng up.

After Li Wan was able to stand up, he puffed out his chest and said to Jia Rui: "My lord, now there is a turmoil in the court. King Zhongshun and King Beijing have already shown disobedience. Please make a decision immediately."

"Oh, did the two of them do anything?" Jia Rui asked curiously.

No wonder Jia Rui was curious. Although these two people were famous, they really didn't have much power in their hands. What they could use were the soldiers of the Prince of Beijing, plus the relationship between the Prince of Beijing and the Prince over the years.

"My lord, the two of them are prepared to assassinate or launch a thunderous strike if necessary."

Jia Rui thought for a moment and then said: "In this case, we can't leave any further trouble. I will allocate a thousand soldiers from the infantry commander's office to you, and you can kill these two people in one go."

It turns out that Jia Rui still doesn't fully believe Li Wanneng, and now he is continuing to test him. You must know that both King Zhongshun and King Beijing are the emperor's absolute confidants, especially King Zhongshun, who is also the emperor's sibling.

If these two people are taken down by Li Wanneng, then Li Wanneng will completely betray the emperor's faction. At that time, Jia Rui will be able to trust him four or five points.

Li Wanneng hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the strange look in Jia Rui's eyes, he immediately understood that Mr. Jia didn't fully believe in himself!

But think about it, it's like this. I have done a lot of things against Mr. Jia before, but now that I'm here and say a few nice words, it's impossible for Mr. Jia to completely believe in me.

In this case, it's better to do something by yourself to let Mr. Jia know that he is sincere.

"I obey my orders." Li Wanneng said firmly.

Jia Rui laughed and said, "Okay, you will take my warrant and go to the infantry commander's Yamen to mobilize troops."

After saying that, Jia Rui immediately wrote a transfer order in front of them and stamped it with his official seal.

Li Wanneng stepped forward to take the order, then bowed to Jia Rui and turned around to retreat.

When Li Wan was able to leave, Shen Wence said, "Sir, don't you believe that Li Wan can leave?"

Jia Rui stood up and said: "Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts, it is difficult to paint a dragon or a tiger, so we'd better be on guard."

Shen Wence thought for a moment and nodded. He felt that Jia Rui was still more cautious than himself.

"How are Chen Guozi's preparations going? When can the Supreme Emperor enter the imperial mausoleum?" Jia Rui sat back on his seat and asked.

"Back to your lord, according to your instructions, the Supreme Emperor will be able to enter the mausoleum in half a month."

Jia Rui nodded with satisfaction.

The reason why it was so fast was because the Emperor's mausoleum had already been built a long time ago. If other emperors had completed half of the construction before his death, the Emperor's body would have to stay outside for several years.

"Sir, the Supreme Emperor has entered the imperial mausoleum. In what capacity are you going to go?" Shen Wence asked softly.

Jia Rui was stunned for a moment, and then fell into deep thought.

After a while, Jia Rui said to himself: "Yes, in what capacity should I accompany you?"

Shen Wence's eyes flashed, and then he said in a low voice: "Of course I will go as Prime Minister, Duke Wu."

Jia Rui looked at Shen Wence, then nodded slightly and stopped talking.

Shen Wence also retreated with understanding.

Besides, Li Wanneng came out of Jia Rui's place and came to the infantry commander's Yamen in a sedan chair.

The nine-door admiral Zhang Tao didn't care about Li Wanneng at all. When he heard that he was coming, he just asked a soldier below to lead Li Wanneng to the lobby.

Entering the lobby, Zhang Tao was still sitting there, holding a pen as if correcting something, without even looking at Li Wanneng.

Li Wanneng glanced at Zhang Tao. It was impossible to say that he was depressed, but now he had just joined Jia Rui, and Zhang Tao had already been a popular man under Jia Rui. He couldn't compete with him now. Bear with your anger for a while and wait until you gain Master Jia's trust, then you can settle the score with this guy.

The reason why Li Wanneng has such confidence comes from the lessons of history.

In all dynasties and generations, the generals under the emperor may be arrogant for a few days at the beginning, but as the situation stabilizes, civil servants will be reused, and those generals will be suppressed again.

"Master Zhang, this official is here to mobilize troops on the order of Master Jia." Li Wanneng took out Jia Rui's troop deployment order with a smile on his face.

After hearing these words, Zhang Tao glanced at Li Wanneng, and then there was a trace of disdain in his eyes.

What did he think was wrong? It turned out that he was greedy for life and afraid of death. Seeing that his lord was in control of the situation, Baba took refuge in him.

Although Zhang Tao was disdainful, he did not dare to ruin Jia Rui's important event, so he quickly ordered his soldiers to take the troop deployment order from Li Wanneng's hand.

He took it and looked at it, then smiled slightly, "What do I think it's about?"

After saying that, he immediately took a command arrow from the table and threw it to his own soldiers, "Transfer all the troops of Sun Qianhu to Lord Li for transfer."

After hearing the words, the soldier went out immediately. After a while, a young man with a beard came in.

After he came in, he didn't even look at Li Wanneng. He knelt down and saluted Zhang Tao, who was sitting in the middle. "You've seen the commander-in-chief before."

"Take your own troops and follow Master Li's orders." Zhang Tao said lightly.

Sun Qianhu stood up and looked at Li Wanneng beside him, then clasped his fists and raised his hands: "I will obey your orders, sir."

Li Wan could see that these thousands of households did not look down on him, and there was a smile on his face: "We are all working for Mr. Jia, so we should take care of each other."

After saying that, Li Wanneng bowed his hand to Zhang Tao and took Sun Qianhu away.

(End of this chapter)